Principles of data visualization
MACS 40700 University of Chicago
Basic data structures
Data type
Dataset type
Data types
Dataset types
Tables
Flat table
Each row is an item
Each column is an attribute
Each cell is a value fully specified by the combination of row and column
Multidimensional table
Networks
Trees
Fields
Geometry
Shape of items with explicit spatial positions
0D
1D
2D
3D
Maps
Attribute types
Semantics
Type vs. semantic
Key vs. value
Anscombe’s quartet
Dataset 1
\(N\)
\(\bar{X}\)
\(\bar{Y}\)
\(R^2\)
11
9
7.500909
0.8164205
Dataset 2
\(N\)
\(\bar{X}\)
\(\bar{Y}\)
\(R^2\)
11
9
7.500909
0.8162365
Dataset 3
\(N\)
\(\bar{X}\)
\(\bar{Y}\)
\(R^2\)
11
9
7.5
0.8162867
Dataset 4
\(N\)
\(\bar{X}\)
\(\bar{Y}\)
\(R^2\)
11
9
7.500909
0.8165214
Anscombe’s quartet
Dataset 1
Term
Estimate
Standard Error
\(T\)
-statistic
p-value
(Intercept)
3.0000909
1.1247468
2.667348
0.0257341
x
0.5000909
0.1179055
4.241455
0.0021696
Dataset 2
Term
Estimate
Standard Error
\(T\)
-statistic
p-value
(Intercept)
3.000909
1.1253024
2.666758
0.0257589
x
0.500000
0.1179637
4.238590
0.0021788
Dataset 3
Term
Estimate
Standard Error
\(T\)
-statistic
p-value
(Intercept)
3.0024545
1.1244812
2.670080
0.0256191
x
0.4997273
0.1178777
4.239372
0.0021763
Dataset 4
Term
Estimate
Standard Error
\(T\)
-statistic
p-value
(Intercept)
3.0017273
1.1239211
2.670763
0.0255904
x
0.4999091
0.1178189
4.243028
0.0021646
Anscombe’s quartet
Marks
Channels
How to pick an appropriate graph
Think about the task or tasks you want to enable
Try different graphic forms
Arrange the components of the graphic
Test the outcomes
What is the story?
Basic charts
What is the purpose?
Comparisons
Proportions
Relationships
Location
Distribution
Patterns
Histogram
Density plot
Box-and-whisker plot
Box-and-whisker plot
Bar chart
Grouped bar chart
Box plot
Violin plot
Scatterplot
Scatterplot
Line graph
Line graph
Grouped line charts
Network diagram
Network diagram
Heatmap
Heatmap
Stacked bar chart
Bubble chart
The Wealth & Health of Nations
Proportional area chart
Pie chart
Donut chart